A PUBLIC meeting is to be held in a bid to set up a centre to help unemployed people in Leek.

The idea for an 'opportunity centre' has been put forward by Green Party activist Bill Cawley.

The meeting is at 2pm tomorrow at Coffee Clique, Getliffe's Yard, in Derby Street.

Mr Cawley said the number of people who have become unemployed in Leek in the last year has soared after the area was left reeling by redundancies at JCB, Fole Dairy and the Hartington cheese factory.

Mr Cawley said similar centres in America, where they are called 'LaidOffCamp' have proved very successful.

He said: "Leek lost its Jobcentre nearly four years ago and I think the process of looking for a new job or to start up a business can be an isolating one.

"What Leek needs as well as other communities in North Staffordshire is a place to meet where people who are in this predicament can talk, trade stories, voice concerns and share contacts that can lead to work or opportunities.

"The idea is that such a venture is voluntary, self-supporting and built on the notion that we are in this together."